By Amin Ridzuan Ishak
KLANG, Oct 24 — At least 10,000 teenagers in the state are targeted to receive the Covid-19 vaccine under the Selangor Vaccination Programme (Selvax) for Adolescents which began today, says the Menteri Besar.
Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said so far, more than 3,000 individuals aged 12 to 17 years old have been identified, which included students of Maahad Tahfiz and school dropouts.
According to him, the state government’s initiative is complementary to the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) for Adolescents to accelerate the immunity of the group as well as provide protection to the dropout group.
“The response on the first day of this programme is quite encouraging if this continues we may be able to get at least 10,000 teenagers.
“We focus on teenagers who cannot get an appointment under PICK for Adolescents,” he said after visiting the first day of Selvax for Adolescents immunisation programme held at the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) Dewan Serbanguna in Pandamaran Jaya here today.
The Selvax for Adolescents programme started at the Port Klang state constituency and will be expanded to several other state constituencies including Pandamaran, Bukit Lanjan and Tanjung Sepat.
On October 7, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari had announced that the Selvax programme will be expanded to teenagers, involving some 150,000 doses after being granted permission from the Health Ministry.
In June, the state government launched the Selvax Community and Industry initiatives to complete and expedite the vaccination process of state residents.
Costing over RM200 million and recognised by the Federal government, Selvax has been included in the overall framework of PICK, which is aimed at low-income groups, the elderly, and industry workers.
